The Dillon tribune., 1887-11-04
KENYON'S VERSION.

We had it rough, Molly and l. for five
years. We were New Englandcrs, both o1
us; but had come west years before when
wasn't much more than a boy, to get rid
of the lung fcvers I used to have every
spring sure, and maybe the fall between
thrown in. I had nothing but my two
hands to start with; but us soon as I'd
made Il beSinning-a small one, of course
II went back for Molly.
And then, as said, for five years we
had it rough.
In the first place, we were burned out
in the town and never saved IL thing but
the clothes we stood in and my team.
Then we started again out OH the edge of
everything. where land was cheap, and it
looked as if hard work might count for
something. That time the Indians ran us
off. Never saw an Indian: Well, sir,
you never &'ant to. | don't want to be
hard on anything the Lord saw fit to
make. ] suppose he knows what they are
made fOr-or what he meant them for-I
know there's good deal of talk lately
about their wrongs. They've had 'em,
all round as l ought to. They say all
cases. I'm one of the particular cases,
perhaps. Anyhow, they killed one of tho
children there-the girl, years old; shot
her right in full sight of the cabin, and
Molly hasn't got over it till this day.
picked up a few head of cattle cheap
that fall, and for year We lived in q
wagon, camping and driving our cattle
across the ranges. You don't know what
that life means for a woman, take it
month in and month out. Cooking over
"a camp fire, and not much of anything to
cook, anyhow; clothes wet half the time;
never warm in winter nor cool in sum-
mer, and never clean. That year tho
boy died-snakebit. We were SO far from
a settlement that we couldn't get a doctor,
and we buried him ourselves.
We got into cabin in the fall. Four
OF us, each one poorer than the others,
took section of government land. We
had our teams and our health, and we
were down to bed rock; not much of any
thing to lose and everything to gain. A
man will work under such circumstances,
you'll find. We built in the middle of the
adjoining corners of our quarters, and SO
had a little settlement of our own. We
did it for the sake of the women, for it
made All almighty sight of travel for us
to get over in the course of the day.
They were all New England women, slen-
der and sparc, but solid grit clear through.
Plymouth Rock is pretty good stock.
Never whimper nor u complaint out of
one Of them, though there wasn't u Sec
ond frock in the crowd; and il there was
always corn bread and coffee enough for
two in any of the shanties it wasn't in
ours. After awhile, though, we had game
enough-quail and prairie chickens Prai-
rie chickens! wouldn't be hired to touch
ono now. remember one day along to-
ward spring when Molly struck. We had
had quail and prairie chicken, prairie
chicken and quail. three times day ever
since could remember, 1t seemed to me.
She put her fork down and pushed her
plate away and just quoted out Of the
Bible: "NOt one day, nor two days, nor
five days, neither ten days nor twenty
days, but even until it come out ut your
nostrils and he loathsolnc unto you" Molly
knew the Bible.
1t really began to look us if we had
touched bottom. That next spring we
got our crops in--corn laid by, rain and
sunshine and hot weather all just right;
and now and then we would hear II laugh
from the houses.
But the day the grasshOppers came
there was mighty little laughing done.
Clayton came in where was taking my
noon smoke and kind Of dropped down in
u chair by the door, as if he couldn't get
any farther:
Of gasp.
''What?'' said, not knowing but it
was another kind of Indian.
''Grasshoppers" 1t seems he had been,
there before.
I ran out, and sure enough there they
were, coming up against the sun like II
low kind of cloud. And in Il minute or
two it was like being out in /, live hail
storm. We tried to fight them with fire
and hot water, but We gave ii up in an
hour. All day we sat and listened to that
horrible cracking and craunching, and
when they got through it looked as if a
fire had gone over lis. Not IL green thing
left, and the corn stalks gnawed down to
stumps.
We held II council Of war The end of
it was that we drove our stock into Tho
town the next day, thirty miles. and sold
it. II didn't make us rich. but ut least
We got the price Of the hides. Then three
Of us were to work in the coal shippings,
and Jim Clayton went back to stay with
the women He had smashed his shonl-
der that summer and was of no mortal
use with shovel and pick. We were to
keep them in supplies, and it looked rs if,
after all, things might have been worse.
And they got worse before great while.
The coal company pctcrcd out just as the
real cold weather set in. We took back q
big load Of coal: it was the only pay VIC
ever got for our last fortnight's work, and
called another council.
Along in November late-about the time
when they were keeping Thanksgiving on
the side where they know what Thanks
giving means-we started on IL buffalo
hunt. There was enough to cat, such as
it was, for Il month in the cabins, and fvel